VertigoLeg 1: 2005, US

Phoenix II

Went into the gig early again - as did many people given last nights technical shambles. I sent off a lot of technical specs to film maker Mark Pellington who is going to be making some new video pieces for us. I also worked on set lists, as it would be good to make the two nights have more differences between them. When the band arrived we all talked it over and decided to put ëBad' in the show for the first time on the tour. Gloria' and 'The Ocean' went in too, plus we did the 'City of Blinding Lights' opening. I didn't get to speak to the band afterwards, but I was really pleased with the new set. It was so great to hear 'Bad' again. The band seem keen to keep pushing it and trying new songs, which always helps keep interest up in all departments.

Later I was treated to the vision of a giant chocolate Joshua tree being removed from the hospitality area. Did somebody order this?

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Latest Willie's Diary

Within the bands entourage (certainly by comparison to the crews clockwork scheduling) travel departure times are often a little loose. This morning was especially so, due to three contradictory memos which had been emailed out last night and this morning.

There was a 6.30pm conference call arranged between Bono (Dublin), The Edge (Los Angeles), Steve Matthews (London) and myself (also London) to blow the cobwebs off our brains and discuss the reincarnation of the Vertigo Tour.

I was planning on resurrecting the tour diary today, being the day we were scheduled to fly to Auckland for the load-in tomorrow. However, its now old news that the remainder of the tour dates have been postponed, so Im not going anywhere further than the corner cafe. Its been a very weird week indeed - much akin to driving into a wall.